A group of teenagers hold hand-made posters during the 9th State Conference on Children and Teenagers' Rights in Paraná (Brazil). From left to right, written words are: 'Sexism?', 'One Brazil, many languages', 'Yes to (racial) quotas', 'Public education' and 'Capitalism'. Photo: Leonardo Faustino da Silva.

Yes, communicating is a human right. Still, one that should not be
overrated to the detriment of all others. This explains why web pages which
instigate violence against the LGBTQ community, women and other marginalized
social groups are prone to being reported to authorities and shut down. Are
they making use of their right to communicate? Basically, yes, but their
messages rely on encouraging hatred and violence, and therefore contribute to
violations of other kind to other people's rights.

However, when speaking about most of us, ordinary people with no
intention of directly offending others, it is also possible to identify how
power dynamics and social inequalities reflect in our everyday language.
Instead of being all black-in-white, the whole picture contains many more
shades of gray (excuse the pun).

A typical example of such 'grayness' is the vocabulary applied to break
up news of teenagers' wrongdoings. In the Brazilian context, they are not named
as teens, they become instantly 'minors' ('menores', in Brazilian Portuguese). And
I say 'become' due to the exclusiveness with which the word 'minor' is used:
only when reporting criminal activity. I can hardly remember a news report
mentioning 'minors who are entering universities', for instance.

It is as though, whenever speaking about offenders under 18, the word
'minor' automatically pops up as a part of this 'criminality package'
downloaded and installed in our operational system in dribs and drabs. To call
someone a 'minor' not only reinforces the negative aspects of their actions,
but also carries a stigma perpetrated by the Brazilian
Minors' Code (1927)[1],
the Statute of Child and Adolescent
(1990)[2]
predecessor. As a matter of fact, the Minor's Code addressed teenagers as
indeed 'minor' components of society when compared to adults, the latter being considered
its 'major' part, therefore superior.

Interestingly enough, the Minor's Code tackled primarily children and
teenagers involved in criminality or facing violence and negligence. This
approach denoted that the younger only deserved legislators' attention once
they had done something wrong or were neglected by their families and had no
one else to care for them.

The Statute of Child and Adolescent (1990), on the other hand, assumes
that all people under 18 are subject of rights: individuals who should be
regarded by public policies in a way that meet their needs and ensure their
full development. In practice, this means not only to construct especial prison
units for young offenders, but also invest in sports, culture and leisure
facilities to prevent criminality. Thus, more than just bending to the
'politically correct', rethinking language implies discussing our own
prejudices, recognize historical power dynamics and communicating with
responsibility.

[1] The original text from the
Brazilian Minor's Code is still available in the Brazilian Presidency website (Portuguese
only),
although the text is all crossed out due to its legal invalidity.

[2] Statute
of Child and Adolescent (Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente) is also
available in the Brazilian Presidency website, in Portuguese only. Other
comments on Brazilian legislation regarding children and adolescents can be found
in this report
of the Library of Congress.

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Voices of Youth (VOY) was founded in 1995 as UNICEF’s online place for young people to learn more about issues affecting their world. Today, VOY is a vibrant community of youth bloggers from all over the world, offering inspiring, original insight and opinion on a variety of topics. Everyone is welcome to write, film, comment and engage in discussions. Let’s go!